One. More. Tree.

Oh yes.  He did. 

You read that right. One more tree.  We already planted 14 trees this summer. What's one more?

Steve had to run a couple errands, and drove past the Tractor Supply Store. He saw a clearance sign by their trees. Now they are marked down to "Half Price". He had seen a row of cedars and was curious about maybe doing them a along our border. He didn't buy them, but instead came home to ask what I thought. After supper we drove back over there to take a look. The cedars were already gone. But there was this really nice white dogwood tree. It's supposed to get between 15 and 25 feet high with the most beautiful white dogwood blossoms. Seems to have a lot of nice branches. Although the leaves are dead and dried up now, the branches are soft. Come springtime, we should see some beautiful new growth.  It was only $15.00 and after my 10% off coupon, it came to $13.50.  So yes, he bought another tree. 

From there, we stopped at the grocery store. We just had to pick up a couple things. They had a cute little display of the most beautiful African Violets! If he can have a tree, I can have some flowers.  I have this nice pretty flower pot that I had gotten from my neighbor Sheryl with some succulents in it two years ago. Succulents finally died off, and I wanted to find something pretty to put in the pot. These violets just filled the bill.

Been a while since I had an African Violet. My grandmother used to grow beautiful ones. I carefully potted it and put it in the window in the kitchen where it will face the north. I can admire at each time I stand at the kitchen sink. Now that the outdoor flowers are dying off, it will be nice to have blooms inside.

We started working on the French doors to go between the living room and the guest room (which we may turn into an office). Steve had done all of the sanding and prep work and had them ready for me on saw horses.  Remember, he HATES painting.

The weather had finally warmed up enough to start a couple coats of paint.  It is my job to change them into beautiful French doors that will go in the house. I think we will put on a glass doorknob, to match the original ones on our bathroom door. 

I love the beveled glass. It's very hard to take a photo of beveled glass but each pane of window has a nice wide beveled section all of the way around. There is brass caming in between the sections. Some of it is bright and some of it is tarnished. My daughter Erin suggested I find one of those metallic flow paint pens at the craft store. Then I can make them all maybe a nice deep bronzish brown and take down the brightness of some of the spots and cover up the tarnished areas of others. Great idea! It's on my next shopping list.

It was warm enough on Saturday to get both coats done on both sides of the doors. So now they will be ready to be installed whenever we prep the inside doorway. Steve will cut off the protective plastic over the glass and then I will see about doing something to the brightness of some of the brass caming pieces.  

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Saturday was such a nice day with sunshine and slight breezes. The neighbor to the back Southeast yard was wanting to cut down a couple of the dead trees in his yard. Some of it's in our yard too. Some would fall in our yard if he cut the best direction for the leaning tree.  Steve said have at it, and the neighbor can use all of the dead wood for his wood burning stove in his house. They got one hunk hung up in a crotch of a tree, they had to use a rope attached to the bumper of his truck to yank it down. They did it safely and nobody was in the way.

My Lumberjack guy looks pretty good on this fall day. I'm glad that we are both feeling good, healthy again, and able to get a few projects done before the weather turns cold.

It was nice enough to give Binney a little bath down in the laundry sink in the basement. When I was done, I let her loose in the sunshine in the backyard. She ran some "Zoomies" around and around the yard in circles and shook off repeatedly. She was like a little puppy, even if she is 9.  The sun felt so good on her coat, that it was drying her off quite well in no time and now she smells pretty!

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Later in the day I hauled out my Grandma Groop's old Singer sewing machine. It's from 1942. It's called the "Godzilla Finish" machine because of the rough textured surface instead of the shiny golden filigree decals that Singer was known for putting on their machines.  This was made during World War 2, so embellishments and frilly froo froo designs were frowned upon.  Manufacturing a utilitarian machine to do work was okay, but not a fancy pretty Singer that they were accustomed to making in the pre war era.  It does have the beautiful bentwood case. This is such a workhorse of a machine that I can use it to sew the triple folded hems of my hand-woven rugs.

This rug is now finished, hemmed and measured up and listed for sale in my Etsy shop:

Snowy Winter Day Rug

She had used it all of those years, and sewed many quilts and patched up her hard working husbands's mining clothes on it. Both of my aunts remembered sewing their prom dresses on it, as well as other clothing. I remember the big heavy quilts that she made for us when we were children. For the inner layer of batting she used heavy moving blankets. She was always one to recycle and reuse.

It has really done it's duty over all of these years and is still going strong. 

I remember the day my Grandma Groop gave me the sewing machine.  I was sitting on a lawn chair at my nephew's graduation back in about 1998. Grandma Groop came over and tapped me on the shoulder and said: "Before you leave town tomorrow, come on up to my house. I have something to give you".

We went up to her house, that was only a couple miles away, and we had a nice visit. She had the sewing machine sitting there for me. She said out of all of the grandchildren, I was probably the one who would use it the most. So she asked if I would be interested in having it. Of course! I use it often and proudly.  I hope she is looking down from heaven and smiling to know that it is used a lot and still kept routinely oiled and cleaned, and stored carefully where it won't get rusty or damaged.

One of her quilts is hanging on display in a museum downstate in Lansing Michigan. This is called a "Signature Quilt" and it has historical and patriotic connotations. It was done during the Bicentennial of 1976. It is embellished with all of the signatures of the people she worked with at the factory in Caspian, Michigan.  Just 2 blocks from where we grew up.  I remember her sometimes coming over on her lunch breaks to visit.   FW Means is a commercial clothing and linen laundry service. They take care of the sheets and blankets and towels for hotels, nursing homes, hospitals, and even work uniforms for large factories. She worked there for many, many years. My mom even worked there for some time, and my brother still works for them as a semi driver delivering the big bundles of clean fabrics and picking up the dirty bins.

Everybody knew her there at the factory, because she worked there almost all of her life, until retirement and then sometimes filling in when they were short staffed.

Here is the link with more information about her quilt at the Museum

 Grandma Groop's Signature Quilt

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It's getting late. I think that's enough for this blog post. Because my next blog post will be about Halloween. Which is incidentally, also my birthday! And it sure was a good one. Stay tuned.

Rainy Day Projects

Now that we practiced with putting the crown molding trim over the top of the closet doors, it was time to put the same configuration on top of the new window in the master bedroom. 

Steve did all of the measuring and cutting out in the garage and I took care of the painting. Then he was able to bring it inside all in one complete piece, to nail it up to the top of the window trim.

It sure looks nice and finished at the top. It's a close match to what is in the rest of the house. Even though the windows are new and modern, I still like the old-fashioned look of the crown molding around the tops.

Now that the trim is up everywhere, I don't think we're going to put up any curtains or valances. Not for now. The venetian blind is helpful for night if we want to close it off, and it still lets in plenty of daylight even in the down position. 

Now I just have to hang some artwork...

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Oh, Monday night we had a visitor in the back yard:

Yup,

A big ole possum wandered in. 

The security cameras alerted us,  

and Binney barked her head off till it left. 

~~~~~~~~~~

After watching the weather reports, we decided to not go camping this week. Tuesday was a beautiful day, though. The sun was shining and the temperatures were up in the high 50s. Steve thought this would be a good time to tackle the north side of the garage. It has vinyl siding out there and the northern side was not only dirty but was kind of getting a tinge of green mold or mildew. We found this product to use with the pressure washer.

Steve wetted each area with the product in a pump up sprayer. He put on coveralls just in case it would do harm to his blue jeans or his favorite red checked flannel shirt.

After it soaked for a little bit, he used the wide soft bristle brush that he uses for washing the motorhome. It was amazing how well it loosened up all of the dirt.

The pressure washer was acting up a little bit, but he was able to get it working again and gave it a good spray down. Look at that dirt just roll down the siding.  

So when he got the entire North side completed except a little teeny section down where the kids have already parked their motor home for the winter. Now it should stay good for a while because it's supposed to have mildew inhibitor built into the cleaner. I never liked vinyl siding, that's even more of a reason why.... how moldy it gets on the north side of buildings.

After he put away all of his cleaning toys, we were able to move the motorhome back over and park it where it belongs alongside of the garage. It is not winterized yet because we might try to go camping again next week. Did you know last year on November 6th we had a 60 degree day? Maybe we'll get lucky and get some warm weather yet.

It's like we lost the whole month of September for beautiful fall camping due to covid. With both of us getting sick, even though we weren't sick that long, the quarantining for 14 days took a big chunk out of our camping. Fall camping is so nice because the weather is more comfortable, less bugs, and all of the kids are back in school so it's easier to get a campsite during the week. Oh well, there's always next year.

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It was raining on Wednesday and I was able to finish up the last few blocks and put together the rest of the center top of this quilt that I am working on. I'm not sure what name I'm going to give it yet before I list it up for sale in my Etsy store. It will be a queen size quilt when it's done. This is just stretched over the full-size bed in our guest room for now.

I still have a white border to put all around the edge of the main body of the quilt. Then the final border will be what's called piano keys. Which is nothing more than long rectangles. It will go around all of the edges to make it the proper width for a queen size bed. This is just to give you an idea of what it will look like. I just laid the fabrics next to the edge of the main body of the quilt.

I really like how that one is coming out. 

I have a couple more in my mind 

but nothing started yet. 

I try to finish one before I start another.

~~~~~~~~~

Another good reason to not go camping, Tuesday evening I was able to have the two youngest granddaughters come over. This is Whitney and Claire. If they weren't already cousins, they would be best friends! It sure is fun having them come over because they chitter-chatter all the while and keep each other entertained. I just kind of hang around the edges and listen to them. They are silly, hilarious and adorable all rolled into one.

Watching them play reminds me of myself and my cousin Pam playing together at Grandma's house when we were kids. All we ever did was beg to be together at Grandma's house and spend time with each other.  Even though we were cousins we acted like best friends. Pam was older than me, but we sure enjoyed our time together. Especially at Grandma's house.

It was Whitney's turn to learn how to sew and make her own stuffed bunny toy. Claire had made one a couple weeks ago and I actually had two pieces of the same pre printed bunny fabric. So now it was Whitney's turn to learn to watch carefully as the needle slowly goes up and down. I have a speed control on this sewing machine that I can slow it way down. Then as we got near each stick pin, Whitney was able to pull it out and put it back on the magnetic pin cushion. It was cute to see how she watched that needle carefully go around the entire edge of the shape of the bunny.

Once we were done sewing the bunny it was time to turn it right side out and stuff it. Now she could actually use the scissors (a blunt topped safety scissors) and cut open the bag of the stuffing. Claire watched carefully, because using a scissors is something that they both are getting practice with.

Here they both explained with imaginary handheld scissors, (really their fingers) how we cut all of the way around the bunny. Special thanks to Grandpa for taking all of these photos. Otherwise we wouldn't have these pictures... because there's no way I could hold the camera, take pictures, sew, and monitor the scissors and stick pins.

The stuffing part was fun --- each time they thought they had enough in there, Grandma said "Nope nope nope, the bunny is hungry, it needs more!" The giggles were infectious. 

Once we were all done stuffing the bunny from the bottom, then I had to sew across carefully with a needle and thread. Whitney got to use the scissors to cut the thread after I completed the closing seam.

And there you have it, the two little cousins who created a bunny! Now they each have a bunny friend to play with and sleep with. Claire says it's a "bunny pillow".

Meet Little Miss Bunny, she is created with LOVE! Whitney says it's a girl because she has eyelashes. Of course!

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Now it's Thursday and it's quite a rainy day again. 

I'm really glad we didn't go camping. We would have gotten one nice day out of three. The rest were rainy and cold and damp. 

Steve was pacing around looking for a couple of jobs to work on indoors. We had never finished installing the baseboard molding on the long wall in the she shed. This is where my quilting machine was before we rearranged things. Now that the machine was moved, it's easier now to access the wall. The big barn loom slides away easily as well as the cabinet in the corner. 

I had pre-painted the baseboard the other day, set on saw horses in the yard while Steve was pressure washing the side of the garage. It's a lot easier to paint this stuff outside, rather than after it's nailed up into place. Not to mention, having to cover all the beautiful floor flooring to protect it from any stray paint splatters.

Steve crawled around on his hands and knees and got it nailed into place. Now he is happy that job is finished. It's been bugging him in the back of his mind that the She Shed was really not complete, until he finished that piece of baseboard.

Steve is also getting antsy about starting the French doors that are going between the living room and the guest room. He took care of puttying up any little scratches or nicks and started sanding off the varnished finish. We will be painting them all white. Well, really our trim color is called String of Pearls. It's a little bit pearly grayish off-white. If the weather warms up enough, I will be able to get a couple coats of primer and paint on them. Then we will we will remove the plastic covering the beautiful beveled glass panes and brass caming.

We are tossing around the idea of changing the guest room into an office. Then the French doors will be leading into a nice office area. Our present smaller office we will make into a tinier guest room and playroom for the grandkids. 

We will see what happens. For now, as long as he has a project to work on ---- like installing these doors in place of the present configuration, he will be happy.

Making Plans- Twenty Working Days and Counting Down

It is here--- the final countdown.

In a mere 20 workdays (not counting Saturdays or Sundays or Thanksgiving)  means that my darling Steveio will be RETIRED!

After an *almost-retired* time in 2012, he changed gears and changed jobs to a better state position at High Cliff State Park.  He was only going to finish out his last few months there. They needed help for the summer and he wanted to get away from his other state position.  He had put in 35 years at the Wisconsin University of Green Bay, and he was going to retire back then.  We sold the house and we were going to hit the road in our motorhome.

 But---

Things changed.  

In 2012 his mom was dying of cancer. His father was recovering from cancer. His uncle had cancer, then both his brother and sisterinlaw had cancer.  On my side, we have a brother and brotherinlaw and sisterinlaw surviving cancer, and lost both my dad and my stepdad to cancer.  That much of a loss in four years REALLY makes you sit back and take notice.  Being close to family is what we needed to do.

In the past four years we have had two preemie grandchildren born, and things were scary. We felt that we were needed to be here to help out. They both made it, thankfully. Our children suffered some losses of babies that did not get born. All of our grandchildren are pretty young yet, under the age of 8. We have enjoyed spending time with them. Hopefully a lot more before they get too old to want to hang with Granmuddah and Granfaddah.

Sticking around for them has been pretty important too.  I do not think we could get in enough visiting with them if we were on the road full time.  Every second is precious to be with them, and every second away would hurt from both sides.

So, I guess changing our mind and not hitting the road was the best choice for us. We did live in our rig full time for 7 months and it was fine. We were prepared to live in our motorhome and had it all figured out. We were comfortable, and made plans to get back to Wisconsin for the the holidays for the family. We planned to be around in the summer months when the kids were out of school. We do like travelling and exploring new places. The road has beckoned, but we decided that maybe it is better for us not being Full Time RVers

Working another four years at High Cliff has been enjoyable for Steve. He said it is great to work with Happy People!  Ya know, people on vacation, people enjoying nature, and people who love to work in a natural setting like a park.

The years are wearing him down. He said he is getting tired of 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 12 months a year, for 38 years.  It is a very physical job. He turned 58 this year. He started working for UWGB at the age of 20. That is a long time to be with the same employer in this day and age. He is a reliable responsible person and has worn many hats on the job... many times more than one or two or three or even four hats at the same time. He is always willing to go the extra mile and help out and be a team player. I guess that is why he lasted so long at the same place.  I admire that in him.

Now that we are settled in this cute little house in a small town, we are comfortable and cozy.  We have cut our housing expenses by 2/3 from the previous home in Oconto.  That will make it easier to retire. We can keep the house as a home base and also travel when we can manage it.

Steve is still thinking of finding some work, very limited part time, or perhaps work on repairing things and selling them. He is great at small engines, woodworking and helping me fix up old looms and spinning wheels and fiber tools to resell them.

I guess he will have to decide what he wants to do after working so hard for 38 years. Perhaps he needs to just relax a while.  We both do. I have been disabled/retired since 2003 but I keep working at home in my studio and selling in my online store. I can keep doing that wherever we are. As long as I have a post office to ship out orders, I can keep on doing what I am doing.

Sounds like I am rambling. Hey?  But a lot of folks considering RVing full time read my blog. So I thought I would write about both the ups and downs of it.  It is a big decision. We decided. Then we decided back!  haha

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Tonight, after a good meal in our pretty diningroom, we are now curled up in the livingroom with a glass of wine, the fireplace going, and we are both futzing around on our computers. Him looking at Craigslist and Ebay stuff.. .me writing a blog.  LOL a Modern Couple!

That brings me up to this winter. Usually Steve takes most of his 6 weeks of his hard earned vacation in the winter months... when the park needs him the least.  We try to head south for about 5 weeks of vacation--- either to the desert or to Florida by Mom.  He saves a week of vacation for taking a day here or there during the summer if we need to have a long weekend.

This winter might be different. He will be retired by Christmas, with a few vacation days to use up between then and New Years.  By Dec 30, 2016 he will be officially retired.  We already signed the papers in Madison and made provisions for healthcare and pension.

After going over our budget and our calendar we are thinking we might instead STAY HOME this winter!  OH MY! That will be a REAL change for us.  The rig is winterized and settled in for a long winter nap.  Our idea is that we can then save up to afford a nice long trip in the Summer ... to places we never get to otherwise.

Like:

Out West! 

 Out to the Rockies... 

Out to Glacier National Park! 

Up into Canada to see a few friends. 

Loop around Lake Superior like we did on our honeymoon 20 years ago. 

We would even like to manage a summer up in Alaska??? 

It is a little easier to leave our home in the summer months and not worry about the furnace breaking down, or the driveway not being plowed, or the sidewalk out front not being shoveled (one year we got fined twice by the city because the guy we hired did not show up!)

So ... I think our plan is snuggling up close to the hearth and home this winter with a retired crazy super active speed demon worker. That might be a challenge????   I am asking him to make a list of all the things he wants to get done inside the house and we can whittle away at that.  There is always something to do on Our Old House.  We do not like to modernize it, just keep it in good repair, and keep its original charm.

For example, the foyer and upstairs hallway need painting, a bedroom needs paint, our microwave vent hood could be vented to the outside instead of inside the room. The garage can use some work with a new work bench and re-arranging and installing his garage heater unit for a workshop. He might even insulate the whole garage as a workshop.  I think that would be just dandy.  I think we can keep him busy.

Everyone is asking him what will he DO all day long????   I tell friends and family:

We are going to stay in bed all day 

and make mad passionate love! 

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In yesterdays blog I hinted at a new project I was going to do.  Well, I started it, but then we took a nice afternoon nap.  Sometimes us old almost retired folks have to do that.

Here is a hint... these are some great french doors we bought four years ago off Craigslist. They came out of a church that was being remodeled.  We set them up as sliding doors on a track between the diningroom and  my Loom Room.  This is the BEFORE pic:

I am gonna do *something* to them.... 

 perhaps tomorrow I will finish it.